Rogue Old Crustacean Barleywine

Brewed by Rogue Ales
Style: Barley Wine
Newport, Oregon USA

Pours a beautiful ruby red color. There is a mildy fruity and largley hoppy aroma, with some candy like malt sweetness just in the background. The lace is good and the beer has a decent head retention. Flavor is a little soapy with strong licorice notes, a cherry like fruitiness and plenty of hop bitterness. A very good example of american barley wine.

Lovely ruby red misty pour good carbonation head was not thick but was fluffy and had a sulphur yellow tinge to it there is a mild coverage of lace now aroma caramel toffee honey malts alcohol vapours flavours strong tang full hops citric rind superb bitter caramel toffee a mellowness is there to even up with the bitterness grapefruit taste malt powerful drink with lovely flavours finish tangy bitter with a mellowness.

I don’t mean to slam this beer (I would recommend against doing this literally while drinking it), but this was one of the worst tasting beers/barley wines I have ever tried! To be honest, I haven’t tasted that many barley wines, but I have tasted some good ones so it isn’t because I don’t care for barley wines, I just don’t care for this one. I would say this beer starts out okay but you are soon left with a putrid taste of terror as it slides down your throat. Take my advice, if you never tried barley wines or are not a barley wine enthusiast, RUN AWAY from this one as fast as you can.

Nice dark brown color with a lovely off-white head. The beer leaves awesome lacing. The beer looks amazing, overall; a perfect appearance. Very nice smooth malty aroma. This beer is very pungent. There is not a problem smelling this beer. Huge bittering hop that lingers with a nice malt smoothness. This beer is awesome when it comes to the hops. Palate is not as creamy as I thought it would be. Overall, this is my favorite barley wine ever. I was surprised by the low 90’s rating. Perfect barley wine that has an awesome hop profile with a pungent aroma that you can’t help but smell.

2007 ceramic bottle. Pours a hazy, red-orange body with thick, creamy tan head. Aroma of belgian malts, raisin, toffee, and citrus hops. Flavor of grain, malts, raisins, grapefruit hops, and a hint of pine. Medium bodied with a smooth mouthfeel. Grapefruit finish and aftertaste with a hint of roasted malts.

Smell of flowers and grapes. Palate of Brut wine, very dry. Strong hop flavor, like an imperial IPA with no head and prunes. Not very "pleasant" for a barley wine, but still good.

2002 vintage. Brownish colored pour with a small off white head. Toffee, dark fruits, some hoppiness and caramel on the nose. There is a lot going on here. The alcohol is present in the taste along with dark fruits, citrus hops, caramel, light fruits and some chocolate.

Pours brown with aromas of caramel, ripe fruit, and lots of hops. Flavor is sweet malt, toffee, lots of hop bitterness, and hot alcohol. Could use some aging.